Kirk's death doesn't redeem his life

THE assassination of MAGA firebrand Charlie Kirk was a shocking, brutal crime.

- CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

A young man with a gun should never decide who gets to live or die in a democracy, and no matter how offensive his views were, the father of two did not deserve to be cut down on a university stage. On that, there is no debate.

But what has followed in the days since his killing has been a different kind of attack - an attempt by the right to sanctify Kirk and impose their grief on the entire nation.

Flags were lowered at half-mast, tributes flowed from Republican leaders and Vice President JD Vance turned Kirk's podcast into a shrine by hosting it, as the machinery of a movement was trying to turn a deeply divisive man into a martyr.

Kirk's words, however, do not vanish with his death.

I mostly tried to avoid his rhetoric while he was alive, but it was unavoidable all the same: the distortions of history, the disdain for facts, and the outright contempt for minorities and women.